Thursday, 4 September 2008
American Cooking in France
When Emilie and I got engaged, one of the first presents her family gave her was a French cookbook of "American Recipes". This was a cute present, but not one that I would say she ever got much use out of. With the changes brought on by the baby, and with her and me having different standards when it came to the dinner table, the last few months have seen me gradually taking over most of the food preparation (whether out of helpfulness or exasperation!)
Being an American, though, and not having a lot of time to cook (since I don't get home until 7 p.m.), I have found myself making a lot of American food, preferably things that can be made in large quantities and re-used for leftovers or frozen, to save us time and money. The tricky part is that a lot of the ingredients we take for granted in the US aren't for sale in France (although there is some amazing stuff you can easily find in the supermarket in France that would be impossible to find in the US, like wild boar paté, pié d'anglois cheese, or pheasant). So I've been obliged to find approximations and work-arounds in my quest to turn out quality American comfort food.
This has gone well, but I haven't been very good about writing down what I do when it turns out right, so from time to time I think I'll post my "American cooking in France" recipes on here, so I can at least find them again, and anyone else looking to make American food with the constraints of the French supermarket can benefit as well. Stay tuned!
(I use cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons for measures, but g, ml and °C for quantities and temperatures, since that's what we have in our kitchen. So expect me to be consistently inconsistent!)
